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Once Philomene moves to Betsy's she meets Betsy's son, Joe. As Young as Philomene, he is the only surviving son to work his late father's farm. It is love at first sight and they soon marry and began to work the farm together.

I was just thinking how much has changed in healthcare since I wrote the CORRIDOR and THE PAIN DOC WHEN THIS APPEARED IN CRAIN'SScheme allegedly involved millions of opioid drugs, unnecessary medical proceduresDoctor operated clinics in Warren, EastpointeNearly $500 million was billed to insurers, mostly Medicare and MedicaidFive metro Detroit doctors and one from the Grand Rapids area have been indicted for allegedly running a $464 million health care fraud scheme that involved millions of opioid drugs and unnecessary medical procedures in Southeastern Michigan, federal officials announced Thursday.

An indictment unsealed Thursday says the doctors prescribed opioids to induce people to visit and patients were forced to undergo other treatments.

Nearly $500 million was billed to insurers, mostly Medicare and Medicaid, the officials said. Doctors submitted claims of more than $182.5 million to Medicare, $272.6 million to Medicaid and $9.2 million to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, prosecutors allege.

The alleged ringleader was Rajendra Bothra, M.D., who operated pain clinics in Warren and Eastpointe. He's charged with conspiracy, fraud and other crimes. The identity of his lawyer wasn't immediately known.

U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said it's "particularly egregious" for doctors to prey on addicts.

Four of the doctors were to be arraigned in federal court Thursday afternoon, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of Michigan

The indictment charges that Bothra, 77, of Bloomfield Hills, owned and operated a pain clinic in Warren that sought to bill insurance companies for the maximum number of services and procedures possible with no regard to the patients' needs. Dr. Eric Backos, 65, of Bloomfield Hills; Dr. Ganiu Edu, 50, of Southfield; Dr. David Lewis, 41, of Detroit; Dr. Christopher Russo, 50 of Birmingham; and Dr. Ronald Kufner, 68 of Ada, all worked at the clinic in varying capacities but each prescribed opioid pain medication to induce patients to come in for office visits. Once there, in order to receive the highly addictive opioid prescriptions, patients were forced to undergo ancillary services, such as painful facet joint and facet block injections.

The doctors are accused of issuing more than 13,217,987 doses of opioids, including oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydrocodone, and hydromorphone, from January 2013 through November 2018.

Bothra allegedly submitted false claims to insurance providers for service and devices that were "medically unnecessary," according to the indictment, and attempted to conceal that he submitted fabricated claims to insurance providers.

A call was placed Thursday to the medical clinic in Eastpointe, where a woman from the answering service who did not identify herself said the clinic is closed due to the raid and investigation.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.The Eastern District of Michigan is one of the districts included in the Opioid Fraud Abuse and Detection Unit.

— Crain's Detroit Business reporter Kurt Nagl and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Read More

Philomene’s few years with the LeBlanc family go reasonably well until she reaches puberty. Suddenly Monsieur LeBlanc has a different and nefarious attitude about his best worker as her physical characteristics become an allure to this man who has no passion at home. An old steel frying pan (a gift from the junkman Deneau) gives her the ability to cook in her small shack. When Monsieur LeBlanc becomes amorous she discovers another use for the pan. Suddenly Philomene’s position becomes untenable and she is forced to leave the farm in a panic. Read More

Selected Works

French-Canadian-Detroit history

Here it comes: Philomene’s DollSix years after the American Civil War ended, six-year-old Philomene sees her mother die horribly in childbirth. Soon she is sent from her home near Detroit to Belle-River, Canada, where, following a series of moves to various families and convents, she ultimately finds a stable home near the place of her birth and marries a young man.Together they build a successful farm and begin a family. We follow her through Prohibition, the Great Depression, and two World Wars, raising a large and varied family through the best and the worst of times. All along, she is comforted and stimulated by a simple rag doll that was the single great gift of her childhood. Based on a true story, it’s a tale of the highest and lowest points of a long life. You will not want to miss it! If you enjoyed 1634-Return to the New World, The Beaver Wars, Fearful Passage North, The Allard Series, or other novels by Dr. Kreis, you will love this one.

Historical Fiction Novel

Gravely wounded at the end of 1634-Return to the New World, Françoise Langlois must fight for her life while the fledgling French colony of Québec must fight for its as the Indian nations enlarge their wars with each other along their new European neighbors. Follow Françoise along with her French-Canadian compatriots as they struggle against all odds to retain and grow their place in the New World.

Historical fiction novel.

An enigmatic young woman emerges from a life of bad circumstances and worse luck, finding herself with a small group of French families traveling to the New world where they will prosper as the early prominent families of Canada.

Historical Fiction

1704, the Puritan Massachusetts frontier: The small village of newly wed Elizabeth Price is raided by Indians. She is taken along with 100 of her neighbors and marched through the brutal snows of winter to Montreal where she must begin a new life.